Tuesday, September 30, 2014

This unique desert blossom, formerly clianthus formosus, now known as swainsona formosa, is a member of the pea family found only in Australia. The Sturt Desert Pea is the floral emblem of South Australia.

Some Koori groups call it the Flower of Blood, in reference to a local legend about a young woman who eloped with her lover rather than face an arranged marriage with an old man.

This essence, a remedy for hurt, sadness and grief, supports the heart chakra. It allows us to let go of painful memories, and thus free up energy tied up by this unnecessary clinging to the past.

Monday, September 29, 2014

A rather unprepossessing plant, but powerful. Journalist and author Bruce Chatwin saw a lot of it while travelling through the Australian outback in search of the Aboriginal Songlines.

Spinifex, triodia, is a native grass that grows in the arid regions of inland Australia. It is used as pasture and also as a natural source of resin long used by Aboriginals for cladding shelters.

This plant essence leads to empowerment through understanding of the deep emotional factors that lead to illness. It combats feelings of victimhood and Ian White reports that it effects physical healing as well. Conditions this remedy can alleviate include fine cuts, herpes and chlamydia.

Sunday, September 28, 2014

We can change our lives by changing our thoughts. Yet often we deny this possibility, because although changing our thoughts is a simple idea, in practice it is not so easy.

When our lives are not as we think they should be, it is all too easy to blame circumstances. This powerful remedy helps people to step up and learn to take responsibility for changing the conditions that stand in their way.

The essence of xanthosia rotundifolia,
the flower called after constellation visible from the region where it
grows, combats feelings of bitterness and martyrdom as well as
tendencies to complain about perceived poverty and lack.

Once we overcome the negativity, gratitude for the many things that are going well in our lives attracts more to be grateful for.

Saturday, September 27, 2014

Pimelea linifolia, the slender rice flower, combats narrow viewpoints and undue pride. It is inappropriate to feel superiority and pride when comparing oneself to other individuals, ethnic, religious or national groups.

The remedy promotes humility, and enables us to see the beauty in those around us. As J. Allen Boone says, we are all part of the "cosmic orchestra." Each instrument must be accorded due respect and understanding. Group harmony and cooperation are powerful forces for good.

The message of this flower is that we are all one; when we judge or hurt others, no matter how different they appear, we are really judging and hurting ourselves.

The Slender Rice Flower is associated with the Root Chakra and the emotional and causal planes.

Friday, September 26, 2014

Silver Princess or gungurru is a rare member of the Eucalyptus family, found in limited areas of Western Australia. The essence leads to an awareness of one's individual path in life.

The essence of the gum tree eucalyptus caesia can be beneficial for those who find themselves at a crossroads.It provides motivation, direction and a sense of purpose.

Gum trees have leaves that hang down so that their edges and not their surfaces are exposed to the drying sun. As well as being drought tolerant, the Silver Princess produces crops of gumnuts, which are made into feed for aging ponies and horses. Gumnuts are also used to make artisan chocolates.

The Silver Princess is associated with the Throat Chakra and the causal plane.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

The Rough Bluebell, trichodesma zeylanicum, a member of the Comfrey family, also goes by the name of the Camel Bush.

Recognized as a medicinal plant as well as a vibrational remedy, this essence can be given in cases where the person behaves in a hurtful, malicious or exploitative fashion.

The essence works on the frontal lobe and amygdala of the brain, balancing these areas so the sufferer can regain the natural control mechanisms that check overly impulsive and negative behaviours that can harm others.

Rough Bluebell works on the Heart Chakra and connects to the mental and physical planes.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

This tree, plumeria rubra,
sometimes called Nosegay, is native not to Australia but to Central
America and Mexico. It is very fragrant, and belongs to the same family
as other delightfully fragrant plants including oleander and star jasmine.

The essence made from Red Suva Frangipani is used to comfort those suffering from grief, caused either by physical death or the death of a close relationship. In times of turmoil and emotional upheaval, this remedy helps the sufferer to find the inner strength and calm to cope.

Red Suva Frangipani supports the Heart Chakra and connects us with the soul, astral and etheric planes.

Monday, September 22, 2014

The Red Lily, nelumbo nucifera, is also called the Sacred or Indian Lotus and is associated with Buddhism. The seed pod of this aquatic plant, which resembles the nozzle of a sprinkler hose, can be used in food, as are other plant parts.

This essence addresses feelings of vagueness, disconnection and indecision. By taking it, a person can become more present, grounded, and focused. Ian White reports that it has even been used to alleviate symptoms caused by mind- altering drugs, as well as to help comatose and catatonic patients.

People who need the remedy may be absent-minded and impractical, living in their heads and failing to attend to what is going on around them. They may be accident prone or sleep too much. Red Lily supports both Root and Crown Chakras. It relates to the soul, astral and physical planes.

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Also known as Red Spider Flower or Grevillia speciosa, Red Grevillia is drought tolerant and favoured by native Australian birds, as explained by horticulturist Angus Stewart.

The remedy is used by those who are feeling stuck, as well as those with weak self-reliance and those who are over-sensitive to the critical attitudes of others.

The essence gives strength, enabling us to withstand the negative judgments of others. There are times when it is appropriate to leave unpleasant situations. Red Grevillia supports the Root Chakra and connects to the causal plane.

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

While it is good to be modest, generous, kind and helpful, too much self-effacement and one-sided giving indicates a state of imbalance.

Philotheca (the Greek name means loving receptacle) is an appropriate remedy for those who find it hard to accept acknowledgement, praise, or love. A member of the citrus family, philotheca salsolifolia also supports the Solar Plexus and connects us to the mental plane.

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

The essence of this bloom alleviates mood swings, hypochondria and the tendency to lose enthusiasm, get bored and drop projects.

The leptospermum squarrosum remedy helps stabilize the personality, enabling moody people to develop commitment and drive.The peach-like flowers of this Tea Tree support the Solar Plexus Chakra and connect us to the causal and physical planes.

Monday, September 15, 2014

The lovely blossom of the small fast-growing paw paw tree develops into a delicious tropical fruit, the papaya. The carica papaya can actually begin to fruit within the first year.

The remedy addresses feelings of overwhelm, and of being burdened by the need to resolve problems and make decisions. It calms and brings clarity, so the person can assimilate new ideas and solve problems more effectively.

This essence supports the Solar Plexus Chakra and connects with the soul and mental plane.

Saturday, September 13, 2014

A relative of the drought tolerant ptilotus exaltus, or Joey, the ptilotus atripicifolis or Mulla Mulla is well able to thrive in spite of extreme heat and help people do the same.

Mulla Mulla relieves the fear of heat and flame and also alleviates the ill effects of fire and heat-related trauma. This remedy supports the Root Chakra and connects to the physical and astral planes.

Friday, September 12, 2014

First published in 1987, this was the burning project the late Bruce Chatwin felt compelled to finish before his untimely death in 1989.

This final opus was closest he came to writing what he called "the nomad book," a project that obsessed his writing life. Chatwin's quest is part anthropological, part musical, part linguistic.

Antipodean in every way to Neville Shute's romantic 1950 novel A Town Like Alice, this philosophical memoir opens in a truckies' bar in the same town, still Alice to the locals. Readers are plunged into the centre of rural Australia, warts and all. Early on, the author meets a wealthy young white man in tight green shorts.

The moment they are introduced, he insults the strange Pom, and reproves his curiosity about the aboriginal concept of songlines, saying this is none of his business. Chatwin eventually finds out the fellow uses his private Land
Cruiser and airplane "to fight cultural
appropriation."

Later, in the middle of the night, a glum truckie knocks on Chatwin's hotel room door to see if he wants to get drunk and look for sheilas, but seems unsurprised when his invitation is declined.

Chatwin soon meets a second generation Russian who knows a great deal about Aboriginal culture and takes the newcomer under his wing. Arkady has been hired by railway builders to quickly determine where the "Blackfellows" have their songlines so the company can avoid them and lay down a ribbon of steel beyond Middle Bore station.

With his brilliant flair for telling detail and his detached manner of reporting even the most bizarre incidents, Chatwin takes the reader to the middle of the Outback. In his effort to understand the complexities of Aboriginal Songlines, Chatwin uncovers a lot of colonial history, most of it ugly.

At a barbecue attended by well-meaning experts, the author unexpectedly gains an audience with the redoubtable Father Flynn. During this conversation, Chatwin learns of the excommunication of the first Aborigine to become a Catholic priest.

When Arkady takes Chatwin to meet an artist who comes to town to sell a painting, we learn how the local art dealer interacts with the Aboriginals whose work she sells. We also witness the abyss of misunderstanding between the painter and the American tourists who lurk hopefully in the bookstore as the haggling progresses.

According to Bruce Chatwin's letters, published in 2010 by his widow and Nicholas Shakespeare, it seems that not all his 'real' characters were quite as written. Apparently the controversy about keeping memoir 'true' cropped up in that long-ago time before James Frey's putative memoir.

Memoir aside, Chatwin's work is full of delectable historic and linguistic tidbits. For instance, he opens a letter to the British art dealer John Kasmin with an incidental mention that his friend's name comes from the word Kaz, "Turkic verbal root meaning 'to nomadise' or 'travel': hence Kazakh, Cossack etc." In another aside, we learn that the Afghans (who came to Australia in the nineteenth century and laid down the route later followed by the Ghan), introduced and grew paddy melons to feed their camels. He also tells us that "Apes have flat feet, we have sprung arches," and uses this to support his thesis that "man is a migratory species."

In this unclassifiable work, Chatwin, whose major passion seems to be enormous curiosity about the human past, examines and entertains all manner of challenging people, places, and ideas. He even ventures into mysticism, quoting Meister Eckhart, who speaks of the Wayless Way, where humans lose and find themselves at the same time.

In his personal life, Bruce Chatwin was a secret and conflicted homosexual. He married Elizabeth during his early life, while working with art and antiquities. In the Letters, he writes in middle age to one friend that he has "given up" his homosexual affairs and feelings. Later, dying of AIDS, he expresses regret that he had not become a monk. During his final illness, he tells his brother he is gay but pleads with him not to tell their father, as he wants him to "think well of" his son.

Yet in spite of his financial and health problems and his closeted sexuality, Bruce Chatwin was by no means a tragic figure. A writer and thinker of prodigious talent, intelligence and enterprise, he became a celebrated photographer and journalist after a successful early career as an art dealer at Sotheby's. Later, while working on the projects closest to his heart, he writes to Elizabeth that he doesn't want "to have to make bread and butter doing journalism, because ultimately, it corrodes."

The letters to the many fascinating people he knew (a lot of them famous) are full of charming gems that only Chatwin could have come up with. Writing to his wife from Argentina, he remarks that he is "a hundred and fifty [miles] from the nearest lettuce" and "at least 89 from the nearest canned vegetable." He expects it will take him many years "to recover from roast lamb." From Benin he pens her a letter "in the light of a guttering lamp," before he "must plunge under the mosquito net."

It is a reflection of his important literary and other connections that, upon publication of The Songlines, he asked that copies be sent to Bill Katz, Jasper Johns, Clarence Brown, Nobel Laureate Joseph Brodsky (who was to have three copies), Joseph Campbell (four copies), James Ivory, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and the American satirical novelist Diane Johnson (five copies).

Bruce Chatwin lived a whirlwind life and left us at the age of 49. Fortunately for less adventurous souls, his words live on, carrying readers to the farthest reaches of this restless nomad's world.

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Mountain Devil, as its name suggests, is a remedy for anger, suspicion and hatred. Those who need it have difficulty trusting others.

Made from lambertia formosa, this essence is for people who lack healthy boundaries. Rather than speaking up, many people suppress their own desires and bow to pressure from others, then carry resentment about this afterwards.

Mountain Devil supports the Heart Chakra and the emotional plane. It brings the person back to balance, so they can experience the relief and comfort of forgiveness and love. Interestingly, an Australian Walking Club has adopted the name of this flower to symbolize their enjoyment of one another and of the Australian Bush.

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Eucalyptus macrocarpa provides a beneficial essence for those who are feeling worn out, jaded and drained. It brings out inner strength and enthusiasm as well as improving energy, vitality, and immunity.

It is also beneficial for those going through a period or coping with a situation that requires endurance. This may vary from taking exams to giving birth or grappling with physical labour.

Macrocarpa is associated with the physical plane and supports the Solar Plexus Chakra.

Monday, September 8, 2014

A state of grim seriousness is an indication that the Little Flannel Flower, actinotus minor, can be used to aid the sufferer. This essence awakens the inner child; it evokes playfulness and joy, and relief from worries and cares.

The Little Flannel Flower supports the Sacral Chakra and is associated with the mental, astral and physical planes.

Friday, September 5, 2014

The lovely purple flowering tree, jacaranda mimosifolia, is native to Brazil and the West Indies, but is widely grown in Australia.

Nobel Laureate Alice Munro refers to it in a slightly comic story about an abandoned Ontario woman who follows her man to Australia, to a place she thinks of as The Jack Randa Hotel.

The protagonist in the story is scattered, rushing off before she can decide what she really wants. Perhaps this character should have taken this essence to help her become more clear-minded, decisive and centred.

The Jacaranda essence supports the Brow Chakra and is associated with the Mental and Astral planes.

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Isopogon (the botanical name is isopogon anethifolius) is an essence that benefits those with stubborn intellects and controlling personalities. These people need to re-connect with the heart.

The essence also helps individuals to retrieve long-forgotten information along with skills that have fallen out of use.

Working with the mental plane and supporting the Brow Chakra, Isopogon allows individuals to learn from experience, show understanding and flexibility with others and retain ready access to their own wisdom and skills.

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

In flower essences, yellow is associated with the intellect and the Hibbertia is no exception. It can aid those who pursue knowledge not only to the point of fanaticism, but for the inappropriate purpose of feeling superior.

Information imbibed by the head alone, unrelated to personal experience, does not satisfy. The pursuit of knowledge needs to be balanced and integrated with personal experience and intuition. Otherwise, the would-be learner becomes dogmatic and inflexible.

Stiff in body and repressed in mind, such people can benefit from a softening of their attitudes as the heart is reconnected to the intellect. After all, we all have personal knowledge and experience that we need to own and use.

Hibbertia essence supports the Heart Chakra and is associated with the mental and physical planes.